Opinion Queen

Blendtec Review

The Blendtec Blender – the queen of blenders or is it just a bunch of hype?  Being one of the biggest fans of Dr Oz, I am forever testing out his healthy smoothie recipes.  From Dr Oz’s Green Drink to Dr Oz’s Red Drink, and everything in between… I have tried them all!  However, a lot of these smoothies are very hard on blenders because of the ice crushing that is involved.  Plus, since a lot of the drinks contain whole vegetables, quite a few of the blenders I have previously owned produced vegetable smoothies with a less than appealing texture.  So, I set out on a mission… to find the most powerful and versatile blender that is truly worth the counter space that it requires.  I had read amazing things about the Blendtec Blender and when they offered to let me test out their product, I was ecstatic!  I will give a complete review of the Blendtec below, but the bottom line is that I love the blender (and all of you!) so much that I bought another Blendtec to giveaway to one of my readers (details on how to win are below)!

Blendtec Blender Smoothie Review

Ever since I got my Blendtec, I have started every morning with a healthy smoothie.  I either try one of Dr Oz’s recipes or I create my own based on what I have in the house.  One of my family’s favorite smoothies consists of plain organic yogurt (here is my Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Maker Review in case you missed it!), ice, frozen strawberries, bananas and flax seed (shhhh, nobody even notices when I slip in this healthy ingredient that is full of omega 3′s because the Blendtec grinds it up so finely).  With previous blenders that I have tested out, I would end up with large bits of frozen strawberries or big ice chunks in my smoothies.  But the Blendtec creates completely smooth, thick smoothies…even better than the ones that you get at the mall.  And you do not even have to watch the blender.  You literally push a button and it stops on its own when your smoothie is done.  Perhaps this is why Panera and Starbucks both use Blendtec Blenders to create their yummy smoothies and frappucinos!  Here is a video that I took one morning while making my daily smoothie:

Blendtec Blender’s Many Uses

The Blendtec Blender passed my smoothie test with flying colors.  No matter which ingredients you put in…even if you add something with tons of fiber (like spinach) to your smoothie, it comes out smooth and delicious.  I finally actually enjoy Dr Oz’s Green Drink Recipe, whereas before I had to try and force it down because of its texture.  Frankly, even if the Blendtec could only be used to make smoothies, it would be worth the counter space!  But I tested out quite a few other uses for the Blendtec.  Next stop, Hummus!  My family loves to snack on fresh veggies dipped in hummus, but after tasting homemade hummus, I promise that you won’t be able to go back to the store bought variety.  Usually, hummus is made out of chickpeas and tahini (which is a sesame paste).  However, the Blendtec is so powerful that it can actually puree the sesame seeds into tahini on its own.  I placed into the blender 1 TB water, 3 TB olive oil, 4 TB lemon juice, 6 tsp sesame seeds, 1 cup garbanzo beans, 3 cloves garlic, a small piece of raw onion, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin and 1 TB dried parsley.  You can use canned garbanzo beans, but I decided to go with the garbanzo beans that you buy in the bulk section and soaked them overnight in water.  After a minute or so on speed 5 in the Blendtec, you will have the most creamy and delicious hummus that will totally wow everyone who tries it!

My house goes through almond butter and walnut butter like its water!  So, I tried making my own nut butters.  Much to my delight, nuts are not a challenge for the Blendtec.  It could not be easier, you just place raw almonds or walnuts into the blender, and let it go for around 10 minutes.  With other blenders, you have to let the nuts run for a couple of minutes and then let the machine cool down for a few minutes, and continue repeating this process until you get a nut butter consistency.  Otherwise, the blender overheats.  However, I do not have to do this with the Blendtec.  I can just let it run for 10 minutes and it produces the perfect nut butter.  Also, if you stop the blender sooner, you can make your own almond flour (which can be used in quite a few recipes as a healthy substitute for white flour).

Next up, hot soup?  Really?  A blender can make fresh, hot soup?  Yes!  Minestrone is a family favorite, but ever since we have been moving away from canned foods, soup has made an appearance at our dinner table less and less.  What is great about soup in the Blendtec is that it is quick and easy, plus it is a great way to hide certain veggies that your kids say that they hate.  The tomato base that I start with is 1 cup of hot vegetable broth, 5 tomatoes halved, 1 cup purple cabbage, 1/2 onion, 3 cloves garlic, and a handful of basil leaves.  But you can add any other vegetables that you want to use up as well!  Run the Blendtec on speed 5 until you reach your desired consistency.  Then I add to the soup leftover plain pasta from the night before (any shape!) and some frozen vegetables that I have warmed up.  I love that I know exactly what is in my soup and can control the sodium, plus it only takes a few minutes – including clean-up!

I could go on and on, but I have to share just one more treat that I recently discovered – Dr Oz’s Banana Ice Cream.  You can make ice cream with only one ingredient – bananas!  No sugar, no cream, and nothing unhealthy.  Sounds like a dieters heaven, but would it actually work and taste good?  I have heard complaints from people who say that it does not come out creamy like ice cream.  And you know what I tell them?  That must be because of your blender or food processor, because when I make Banana Ice Cream, it comes out tasting like a bite of heaven.  All you have to do is freeze chunks of bananas, throw them into the Blendtec for a minute, and you will have a tasty frozen dessert that even the pickiest eater will love.  I have been experimenting with the concept by adding chocolate syrup, caramel or even peanut butter for an even more special (and slightly less healthy) treat… and every “experiment” has been devoured by my family with absolutely no leftovers!

Best Way To Clean A Blendtec Blender

The final requirement for any kitchen appliance in my house is that it must clean-up quickly and easily.  All I have to do with my Blendtec is to fill it up with some hot water, add a few squirts of dish soap, and let it soak for a couple of minutes.  Then run the blender for a minute or less, pour the soapy water back into the sink (on top of my other dirty dishes to give me a head-start!), and rinse out the blender jar and lid.  Only a few times have I even had to go over the blender jar with a sponge.  Even my husband, who hates doing the dishes, volunteers to clean the Blendtec because it is so simple.  Here is a video that shows just how well the Blendtec cleans itself:

How to Enter the Blendtec Blender Giveaway:

You can buy one here: Blendtec Blender

How to Win: Each of the following will give you a certain number of entries into the Blendtec Blender Giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like to increase your chances of winning!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Leave a comment below and share your favorite blender recipe! (1 entry)

2.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

3.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

5.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

6.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

7.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

8.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

9.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on June 6, 2011 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

UPDATE: Due to the technology problems we have been experiencing over Memorial Day Weekend, we will be extending the opportunity to enter the Blendtec Giveaway for an extra week (through June 6th).  Sorry again for the inconvenience!

Congratulations to Sarah on winning our Blendtec Blender Giveaway!!!

If you are as big of a fan of the Food Network as I am, I am sure that you have seen the beautiful kitchen staple called the Boos Block Cutting Board.  If you have not yet noticed it, pay attention the next time you see someone cooking on TV, because 9 times out of 10 you will see the famous Boos Block logo on the side of their cutting board (like you can see in the photo below).  After the Dr Oz Show aired a segment about the importance of replacing old cutting boards (click here to read the recap if you missed it: Cutting Board Dangers), a bunch of you contacted me to ask for advice on new cutting boards.  So, I went on a mission to find the best cutting boards for my readers.  While on my quest, not only did I get the opportunity to review two stunning Boos Blocks, but Boos Block also offered to give one of their high-end cutting boards to one of my readers too!

Boos Block Maple & Stainless Steel Feet Review:

The first Boos Block Cutting Board I reviewed is the one pictured above (and this is also the one that is available in our give-away – read on for additional details).  The model number is MPL1812175-SSF and it is a phenomenal hard rock maple cutting board with a juice groove around the edge and the perfect, modern, globe-like, stainless steel feet.  This John Boos Cutting Board With Stainless Steel Feet retails for $148.95.  Why such a high price tag?  Because you are getting an extremely high-end cutting board that is of superior quality to most cutting boards.  We are not talking about your 1/4″ thick wood cutting board that will get sliced and destroyed by your knife in a matter of weeks.  The  Boos Block Cutting Board With Stainless Steel Feet is a whopping 1 3/4″ thick, 18 inches wide and 12 inches deep – this is the furthest thing from a light weight, flimsy kitchen tool we are talking about!

As you can see in the photo above, the juice groove on the Boos Block Cutting Board With Stainless Steel Feet is not just a tiny indentation that does not really serve a purpose (as is the case with so many other cutting boards).  This juice groove is as thick as two of my fingers.  I was able to cut an entire watermelon without getting juice all over my counter – and that is a difficult task since watermelons always equal a messy, sticky counter-top with just about any other cutting board!  The Boos Block Cutting Board With Stainless Steel Feet is so gorgeous that you can make an impressive display with a few types of cheese and a handful of grapes at the spur of the moment – like when your in-laws make a surprise visit and you have nothing prepared!

Boos Block Reversible Maple Cutting Board Review

The second cutting board that I reviewed is the R02 or the John Boos Commercial Maple Cutting Board, which is a real work-horse of a cutting board.  This cutting board is what I now use for my serious cooking jobs where I need a lot of cutting board space.  As you can see in the photo above, you can place a ton of apples, pears, and tangerines next to each other on the  Boos Block Maple Cutting Board, which is 24″ by 18″ by 1 1/2″ thick.  Carving a huge turkey? Chopping up tons of veggies for a stir-fry for a big group?  Or making a large fruit salad to take to your friend’s pot-luck?  The Boos Block Maple Cutting Board can handle all of this!  I love that I do not have to chop up some of the ingredients and then dirty another bowl to clear up more space on my cutting board.

John Boos Cutting Board Review:

In addition to looking great and providing me with a huge surface area to chop to my heart’s content, the quality of the Boos Block Cutting Boards really cannot be beat.  I have chopped everything you can possibly imagine on my Boos Block over the past month, and my husband keeps remarking on how it still looks practically new.  Another aspect that I love about using a wood cutting board is that your knives stay sharp for longer.  With how expensive good knives are, it pays to take good care of them.  Yes, you can certainly sharpen most knives (especially good quality knives), but you can only sharpen knives a certain number of times.  Plus, let’s be realistic, how many of us are using dull knives right now because we just cannot find the time to sharpen them?

The bottom line – Boos Block Cutting Boards are popular among professional chefs and on the Food Network for a reason!  Between its superb quality and the beautiful addition it makes to any kitchen counter-top, I think it is safe to say that I (and every person who has visited my kitchen since I got it) am in love with my Boos Block Cutting Boards!

How to Enter the Boos Block Cutting Board Giveaway:

Where to Buy a Boos Block Cutting Board: You can buy one here: Boos Block Cutting Boards

How to Win: You can win a Boos Block Cutting Board with Stainless Steel Feet by visiting the John Boos Website and leaving a comment in the Opinion Queen Comment Section (below) telling us what you loved the most on their website.  This is a required step before getting extra points with the optional contest entry opportunities listed below.

Optional Contest Entry Opportunities: Each of the following will give you a certain number of EXTRA entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like to increase your chances of winning!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

5.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

6.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

7.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

8.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on February 7, 2011 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

It is all over the news – from the Dr Oz Show to the NY Times – non-stick pots, pans, and other cookware are quite likely to be bad for our health.  I know that this is an ongoing debate, with one side arguing that you are perfectly safe using non-stick cookware as long as you do not use high heat or scratch the surface of your non-stick pots and pans.  But the other side says that there are no conditions under which you should use non-stick cookware, warning of problems like leaking Obesogens into your food through PFOA or Perfluorooctanoic Acid found in the lining of nonstick surfaces.  However, I will not discuss the merits of either side of this debate in this Mauviel M’Cook Pan Review.  Suffice it to say that I am not taking a chance with my family’s health and so I have been looking into a variety of options outside of the world of non-stick cookware.  So I was thrilled when I received the opportunity to review a Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Frying Pan from France – and even more excited when I got an extra one to giveaway to one lucky reader (details on how to enter the giveaway are at the end of this review!).

Mauviel M’Cook Pan Review

Mauviel has been manufacturing both professional and commercial cookware since 1830, hence the name Mauviel 1830 that you see on their packaging and website.  In addition to being well-known for outstanding quality copper cookware (which I would LOVE to review someday!), they make stainless steel and aluminum cookware that is truly out of this world.  When I bought my first set of pots and pans for college, I bought a combination of a couple of stainless steel pieces and a couple of non-stick pieces.  The stainless steel pots and pans were given away within the first month because I could not get anything to cook in them without sticking – unless I used way too much oil which resulted in unhealthy (and greasy tasting) food.  At the time, I thought that my non-stick pots and pans were fabulous – I could cook eggs, ground beef, chicken breasts and just about anything else with little to no oil, and it would come out perfectly.  Over the years and more recently, when I started hearing about the health dangers of non-stick cookware, I panicked.  Would I have to choose between (potentially) toxic nonstick surfaces or super oily food?  Or, would I be able to find the cookware of my dreams?  I am relieved to say that, after a few tweaks to my cooking routine, my Mauviel M’Cook is exactly the dream cookware I was looking for!

How to Use the Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan

I showed two photos above – one with a banana in the pan and one with my hand on the pan handle – so that you could get a good feel for the size of the  9.5″ Mauviel M’Cook Pan.  It is the perfect size pan for everyday dishes, but if you have a big family or cook large quantities, then have no fear because the Mauviel M’Cook line has a variety of different sizes including larger pans.  The 9.5″ is the perfect go-to pan for most people though, because it is large enough for a small family and light enough to make it very easy to handle.  After testing out a variety of different dishes in the Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan, I found the perfect way to cook with this pan so that it is almost identical to using a non-stick surface:

How To Make A Stainless Steel Pan Non-Stick:

1.  Place the Mauviel M’Cook Pan over medium heat and let the pan heat up for about a minute.

2.  Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil or canola oil (depending on what you are cooking) to the pan.

3.  Let the oil warm up for about 30 seconds.

4.  Now you can cook whatever you want and nothing will stick!  Not even scrambled eggs, which is my true test since scrambled eggs always seems to stick outside of a non-stick pan!

Mauviel Review: Top 10 Reasons I Love My Mauviel Pan

It is hard to capture the beauty of how food cooks in the Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan, but you can see in the photo above (on the left-hand side) how even ground beef does not stick to the pan (and this was with adding no oil at all since ground beef always gives off enough oil on its own).  You can also see how perfectly the pan caramelizes vegetables like peppers and tomatoes – see the little dark bits of deliciousness?  And I included a photo of the finished stuffed peppers (on the right hand side) to really get your mouth watering!  I absolutely love my new Mauviel M’Cook pan, so I came up with the following top 10 reasons for why it really is the best stainless steel pan I have ever used.

1. The Mauviel M’Cook pan is made of 5 layers of stainless steel, so that the pan heats up evenly and quickly.

2.  The sleek and modern look of the Mauviel M’Cook pan is perfect for any kitchen.

3.  The entire pan is stainless steel, and so you have no worries about moving it from the stove into the oven (it is safe up to a whopping 680 degrees F) – imagine the delicious filet mignon steaks!

4.  No non-stick surface or chemicals like PFOA to make your family sick.

5.  It cooks very similarly to a non-stick pan except it browns meat and caramelizes vegetables far better than any non-stick pan.

6.  The handle fits perfectly in your hands – perfect for those of us working on our pancake flipping technique!

7.  The Mauviel M’Cook pan comes with a lifetime warranty, not that I expect I will ever need to use it because it really is top notch quality.

8.  The pan is dishwasher safe, and while I mainly wash my pans by hand, it is a nice feature to know about for when you are in a pinch.

9.  I am DYING for an Induction Cooktop, but I had the pleasure of testing out this pan on my friend’s Induction Cooktop and it worked liked a dream.

10.  This came as a total shock to me, but even though the handle is made of stainless steel and it is super ergonomic, the handle also magically stays cool when you cook over the stove.  How do they do that?!?

How to Enter the Mauviel M’Cook Pan Giveaway:

Where to Buy the Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan: You can buy one here: Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan

How to Win: You can win a Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan by visiting the Mauviel Website and leaving a comment below with your favorite product on their site!  You must do this before doing any of the extra entries listed below.

Extra Entries: Each of the following will give you a certain number of EXTRA entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like to increase your chances of winning!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

5.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

6.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

7.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

8.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on January 9 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

One of the most used items in every kitchen is the cutting board.  After hearing about the health dangers of not replacing your cutting board regularly, I set out on a quest to find the best cutting boards for all of us.  On my search I came across The Cutting Board Company who make all sorts of custom cutting boards for professional chefs and professional kitchens, but they also cater to the home cook like you and me.  They were kind enough to send me several of their Plastic Cutting Boards to test and review.

Plastic Cutting Board Review

Before receiving the cutting boards, one of the first things that struck me about The Cutting Board Company was how their plastic products were listed by the NSF, USDA, FDA and the Canada Department of Agriculture.  In addition, these Plastic Cutting Boards are made in America, and with all of the scares about plastic products coming out of China, this certainly helps me to rest easier at night.

The boards are made out of Super High Density Polyethylene Plastic, which did not mean much to me – until I received the Plastic Cutting Boards shown in the photo above.  You cannot tell from the picture, but these cutting boards are seriously heavy-duty and amazing quality (hence the word High Density!).  Each cutting board is 18″ x 24″ and they are a 1/2″ thick – making them the perfect balance between durability and weight.  Another added health benefit of The Cutting Board Company’s Color Coded Cutting Boards is that you eliminate the possibility of cross contamination.  The Red Cutting Board is only for use with beef, the White Cutting Board is for dairy, the Green Cutting Board is for fruits and veggies, the Blue Cutting Board is for already cooked foods, the Yellow Cutting Board is for poultry and the Tan Cutting Board is for seafood.  This means no more worrying that the salmonella from your chicken will get into the raw vegetables that you are dicing for your salad – and for anyone who has ever had food poisoning, you will greatly appreciate this!

Some of you might be thinking that six cutting boards are great in theory, but how can you store all of them?  The above product I did not get to test out, but I would absolutely love to get it in the future because it answers the big question of where to conveniently store your cutting boards.

The bottom line – if you are looking for high quality, warp resistant, stain resistant, hygienic, color coded cutting boards then look no further.  These are definitely on my Holiday Gift List for several members of my family!  You can purchase these Plastic Cutting Boards and Cutting Board Stands by clicking here or you can read more information about the professional grade cutting board company here: The Cutting Board Company.

After watching a segment of the Dr Oz Show where he showed a Snore Relief Pillow, I was determined to figure out who makes and sells such a pillow.  Thank goodness for Google and its image searching capabilities, because that is how I came to find the Sona Pillow, which looks like the Anti-Snoring Pillow that Dr Oz spoke about.  The creators of the Sona Pillow sent me one of their anti-snoring pillows to test out.  I originally planned to let my husband use the Sona Pillow, because he is the one with light snoring and perhaps mild sleep apnea … but wait until you read about what happened!

The Sona Pillow can be spotted a mile away because of its unique shape and its signature stripe pattern on the bottom.  I was curious as to whether this would be a firm or soft pillow and whether it would actually be comfortable to use or not.  After taking the Sona Pillow out of its package, I was impressed by the firm support of the pillow.  I am not a fan of soft wimpy pillows – the firmer the better to me.  I slipped the Sona Pillow into the machine washable pillow case that it comes with and put it on my husband’s side of the bed for him to use that evening.

My husband was not fond of the idea of me taking a photo of him sleeping in bed and posting it on the Internet, so you can see another nice man (who is not quite as cute as my husband!) demonstrate how to use the Sona Pillow in the photo above.  Basically, you place an arm under one of the indented sections of the pillow and rest your head on the middle section.  My husband used the pillow for several nights, and while he used it, his mild snoring did seem to improve a bit.  The only problem is that he would wake up in the morning with the pillow on the floor.  It was almost as if he could not adjust to sleeping in this exact position on his side for the entire night, because he tends to be a back sleeper.

Being a side sleeper myself, and loving firm pillows, I decided that I wanted to give the Sona Pillow a test run even though I do not snore.  It did take some getting used to, but after a few days of “breaking it in” I found the Sona Pillow to be exactly what I would want in a pillow.  My sleep improved and I did not toss and turn nearly as much.  After hearing how much I love the Sona Pillow, my husband said he wanted to give it another try – so it looks like we will be ordering another one because there is no way that I am parting with it now!

To read more about the Sona Pillow and its patented design that was approved by the FDA as a medical advice, please visit the Sona Website.

Recently I published an article about my wonderful experience using a Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Maker (and if you have not entered that giveaway yet, then let this serve as a reminder!).  In addition to making tons of delicious flavors of yogurt, I have also started making yogurt cheese with the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker (and very soon one of you – my readers – will get your very own yogurt cheese maker in our giveaway!).  Who knew that yogurt was so deliciously versatile?  You can use yogurt cheese in place of mayonnaise, cream cheese or sour cream.  So you get all of the healthy probiotic benefits of yogurt in a low-fat healthy cheese spread.

Using the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker could not be any easier.  You simply place the mesh insert (shown on the right in the photo above) into the white plastic container (shown on the left in the photo above).  Add 3 cups of yogurt to the mesh strainer, snap the lid on top of the plastic container and put it in the fridge.  In 2 hours, you will have a thick yogurt cream and in 24 hours you will have a thick yogurt cheese that can be used in place of cream cheese or other fattening ingredients like mayonnaise and sour cream.  The only additional step that I would suggest is that during the 24 hour period, it is best to empty out the liquid that gets strained from the yogurt a few times.  Also, if you are in a pinch, you do not have to wait the full 24 hours.  You will notice that the yogurt becomes thick even after just 8-9 hours (which is basically waiting overnight).

Just to get your mouth-watering and to fill your mind with ideas, here are some of the things that I have made so far with my Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker.  I made many different Yogurt Cheese Spreads by mixing different herbs, vegetables and even fruits into my yogurt cheese.  For example, instead of french toast stuffed with strawberry cream cheese, I made a french toast stuffed with strawberry yogurt cheese by mixing some pureed strawberries into my yogurt cheese.  More of a savory person?  Then, finely dice some vegetables (like bell peppers, carrots, chives, etc.) in your food processor or by hand, mix it with some yogurt cheese, and you have the perfect healthy substitute for vegetable cream cheese.  If you are not a spread person, then you can also use yogurt cheese in chicken salad or tuna salad because it is much healthier than using mayonnaise.  I have a major sweet tooth, so I am thrilled whenever I can figure out a way to make one of my family’s favorite desserts healthier.  I made a cheesecake with half low-fat cream cheese and half yogurt cheese, and it came out perfect.  I even substituted half of the cream cheese with yogurt cheese in my Banana Cupcakes with Yogurt Cheese Frosting Recipe (the delicious results are shown in the photo above)!  If you are looking for ways to sneak some extra healthy probiotics into your family’s diet, while cutting back on fat and calories, you definitely need to check-out the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker!

How to Enter the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker Giveaway:

Where to Buy the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker: You can buy one here: Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker

How to Win: You can win a Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker by visiting the Cuisipro Website and leaving comment below with your favorite product on their site!  You must do this before doing any of the extra entries listed below.

Extra Entries: Each of the following will give you a certain number of EXTRA entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

5.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

6.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

7.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

8.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on December 14 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

One of the products that Dr Oz had on his show recently was the Measure Up Bowl (in case you missed the segment, you can read the recap here: Dr Oz Measure Up Bowl).  Many of us struggle to figure out what an appropriate portion size looks like, so the Measure Up Bowl takes the guess-work out of Portion Control for you.  I can’t tell you how many times I have read the Nutrition Facts on a box of cereal and said to myself, ok I am just going to eat one cup of cereal – but then I never actually measure out the 1 cup – I just “eyeball” it and hope that I am close.  And we all know what that leads to … if I am hungry, I rationalize eating a bit more by telling myself that I did not really eat a full cup.  The genius of the Measure Up Bowl is that you do not need to take out a measuring cup every time you eat because the measurements are etched right into the inside of the bowl.

As you can see in the photo above, the large Measure Up Bowl has markings for a 1/2 cup, 1 cup, 1.5 cups and 2 cups.  There is also a smaller version with marking for 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup.  Before using the bowl for the first time, I decided to do a quick test to make sure that the 1 cup marking really gave me a full cup – this way I could have no excuses to take a bit extra on the off-chance that the measurement markings were a little bit off.

And into my Measure Up Bowl went the Rice Krispies that I had already measured to be exactly 1 cup.  This bowl is precise!  My one cup of Rice Krispies filled the bowl up to the 1 cup measuring line.  But this bowl is useful for so much more than just your bowl of morning cereal.  It is microwave-safe and dishwasher-safe, so warm meals are accounted for, as well as easy cleanup.  The Measure Up Bowl website even has a couple of diet plans that you can follow using their bowls.  Here is one for a Low-Sugar & Heart Healthy Plan and here is another one for a Weight Management Plan.   Heather Harvey, creator of the Measure Up Bowl lost 83 pounds in just 11 months through portion control, eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly.  If you are looking for a product to help you with portion control, I highly recommend checking out the Measure Up Bowl for Portion Control in a Bowl!

For more information, please visit the Measure Up Bowl Website.

As I listed the foods that I eat every day to my nutritionist a month ago, I could not help but be proud of what I thought was a healthy diet.  One of the first things that the nutritionist picked up on was that I was eating lots of yogurt, which is a good thing, but I was eating the wrong kind of yogurt.  She told me to start buying yogurt with at most 6 grams of sugar per serving, but ideally it should have only 3 grams of sugar or less per serving.  So off I went to the grocery store on a quest to find organic yogurt with less sugar (I hate the idea of non-organic dairy products from cows that are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics).  How can it be that every yogurt and kefir (other than plain or diet flavors) has 20 grams of sugar or more?  That is far higher than what my nutritionist was recommending.  So I decided that maybe I would give my yogurt habit a rest for a while.  A couple of weeks later, the fabulous people at Cuisipro offered to let me review the Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker and to give another one away to one of my readers.  And it finally struck me – why not make your own yogurt and have 100% control over all of the ingredients that are used!  Even if you are not a yogurt lover, you should definitely also read my Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker Review and enter that giveaway as well, because both the yogurt maker and the yogurt cheese maker work together so beautifully.

The Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker comes with 8 reusable yogurt cups, a cooking base, and a thermometer that is used in the process of making yogurt.  The only other ingredients that you need are milk and a starter.  The instruction book suggests adding instant skim milk powder into your cold milk before starting the process if you use low-fat milk (otherwise your yogurt can come out too thin), but I used a mixture of whole milk and 2% milk and had no problems with the thickness.  For the starter, you can either use 1-2 TB of plain yogurt that you buy at the store or you can use a package of dried yogurt culture.  For my first batch, I used Cuisipro’s Yogurt Culture, and then after my first batch I always made sure to save 1-2 TB of yogurt to use in my next batch.

How to Make Yogurt in the Donvier Yogurt Maker:

1.  I heated up a liter of milk in a glass container in the microwave until I saw that it was steaming.  This took me around 8 minutes in my microwave, and I stopped to stir and check on it every couple of minutes.

2.  Then I removed the milk from the microwave and placed the thermometer into it, because you need to let the milk cool until it is 110 to 115 degrees.  You can see in the photo above that the thermometer makes it super simple, because you just wait until the temperature falls in between the two black lines marked as “Add Starter.”

3.  Next, I added 1-2 TB of the starter yogurt or dried yogurt culture into one of the eight yogurt jars that comes with the Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker and I mixed some of the warm milk into the starter.

4.  I poured the starter / warm milk combination that I mixed together in my yogurt jar back into the big container of warm milk, and I mixed it well.

5.  For the next step, I filled each of the eight jars equally with the milk / yogurt mixture, covered them with their lids and placed them into the base of the Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker.

6.  I plugged in the base and for my first batch, I set it to run for 10 hours.  The instruction book says you can increase the time for thicker yogurt or decrease the time for thinner yogurt, and in a future batch I did let it run for longer and it made the most delicious, thick, creamy yogurt!

7.  That’s it!  Now I just had to wait.  There are several alarms to let you know when your batch of yogurt is about to be done, and then when the yogurt is finished, the machine automatically turns off and beeps for a minute to remind you to put your yogurt into the fridge, because you need to chill the yogurt for 3-4 hours before it is ready to eat.

How did the yogurt come out? Amazing!  Much tastier than store bought yogurt, and best of all, there are no preservatives or artificial ingredients.  I could control how much sugar was added to each serving – and I opted to use Agave Nectar rather than actual sugar to make it that much healthier.  I even added my own fresh fruit chunks or fruit preserves to make fruit flavored yogurt.

One final point I want to make is that the Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker is well-built and sturdy, and they only use safe materials.  If you look at the photo above very carefully, you can see that the yogurt cups are made of a plastic that contains no BPA, which is so important because any time you heat up a plastic container that contains BPA, the BPA can seep into your food and scientists do not even  know the long-term effects of this yet but it is not sounding good.  In fact, many states have already outlawed the use of BPA in baby products.  So I was thrilled to see the no BPA stamp on the bottom of the plastic yogurt container.

Now that I have a Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker, I think it is safe to say that I will never buy yogurt again.  I love to just set it up the night before, let the machine run all night, and then place it in the fridge the next morning.  In fact, I think I just might need to order another set of Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Maker Jars because my house goes through that much yogurt!

How to Enter the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Maker Giveaway:

Where to Buy the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Maker: You can buy one here: Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker

How to Win: You can win a Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker by visiting the Cuisipro Website and leaving comment below with your favorite product on their site!  You must do this before doing any of the extra entries listed below.  And do not forget to read the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker Review and to enter that giveaway as well!

Extra Entries: Each of the following will give you a certain number of EXTRA entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

5.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

6.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

7.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

8.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on December 13 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

As a person who works on the computer all day long (and does not see as much of the gym as one should!), I definitely love the idea of incorporating exercise into the work day.  The Gaiam Balance Ball Chair is a combination of workout equipment and office furniture in one.  After seeing the Gaiam Balance Ball Chair on the Dr Oz Show (here is a recap of the Dr Oz Gaiam Balance Ball Chair segment), I was intrigued.  So many questions popped into my mind: Could it be comfortable? Could it really improve your back health and posture?  Could you really exercise while working at your computer?  When Gaiam offered to let me try out the Gaiam Balance Ball Chair, I was excited to find out the answers to all of these questions.

A little bit of background on the Gaiam Balance Ball Chair – it was developed by Dr Randy Weinzoff, a chiropractor, as a chair to alleviate all of the aches and pains that we get in our back and legs while working at a desk for hours on end.  The height of the chair is 2.5 feet tall, and it is designed for people between 5′ and 5’11″ tall who weigh 300 pounds or less.  And I can tell you this much, my husband who is 6’3″ could not use the Gaiam Balance Ball Chair, but then again, he also cannot sit comfortably in any sedan or small SUV.  Luckily, I am 5’4″ though, so this will definitely be my chair and not his!

The Gaiam Balance Ball Chair comes in plum (purple), pool (blue), sage (green) and charcoal (dark gray).  The only difference is the color of the ball, and I went with charcoal color because it was the most neutral choice.  However, I was very tempted by the other beautiful colors.  The good news is that if you ever want to change the color of the ball, you can replace just the ball for only $30.

When my Gaiam Balance Ball Chair arrived, it took me less than 10 minutes to put the whole thing together.  The most time-consuming part was filling up the ball with the air pump in the photo above, but this was a fun activity to do while I watched the news anyway!  I filled the ball up as much as possible, but after a few hours the instructions say that the ball will become more pliable so that you can add more air – and sure enough that is exactly what happened.

I placed my Gaiam Balance Ball Chair in front of my desk and started working on my computer.  The first thing I noticed was that I could not resist the temptation to bounce and move around, which already is more activity than I usually get while sitting at my desk.  I also felt my posture improve and some of my back pain was relieved, but I thought that perhaps I was just sitting up straight since it was a new chair and I wanted for it to work so badly.  But several hours later, I was no longer thinking about my posture or my back when my husband walked in and said, “wow, that Ball Chair really does give you perfect posture!’  It is such a shame that Gaiam does not make a larger version for taller men, because my husband could definitely use a posture improving chair too!

Back to my list of initial questions.  Could it be comfortable? Absolutely!  Even after sitting on it for hours, it is surprisingly comfortable.  Could it really improve your back health and posture?  Definitely!  After several days, my usual back pain diminished.  And my last question: could you really exercise while working at your computer?  The Gaiam Balance Ball Chair comes with a few exercise ideas that you can do at your desk, and apparently some of their chairs even come with a Resistance Cord (as in the photo above).  I do not have that exact Resistance Cord, but I do have a resistance band which I used in the exact same way.  Now when I am on the phone, I pop on my headset and exercise my arms.  Plus, when you are not using the ball as part of the chair, you can use it on its own to do a whole bunch of other exercises.

The Gaiam Balance Ball Chair definitely surpassed my expectations and I cannot recommend it enough for people under 5’11″ who work at their desk for many hours and are looking for the perfect combination of workout equipment and office furniture!  For more information visit Gaiam’s Website.

Dr Oz featured the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard on his show where he discussed kitchen gadgets that are good for you (here is the recap of the segment in case you missed it: Dr Oz Kitchen Gadgets).  I was ecstatic when Evriholder offered for me to review the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard and to give another one to one of my readers!  If you have kids that help you cook at home or if you are generally clumsy in the kitchen (like me!), then you definitely need to read this review!

My Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard came in hot pink, which is a color that I love.  But it also comes in purple and green.  The hot pink portion of the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard is made out of a soft flexible thermoplastic, which is why you can open and close this “wish-bone” shaped tool.  The white portion of the tool is a hard and non-flexible plastic, which prevents you from accidentally cutting into your fingers or hands with a knife.

As you can see from the photo above, there are two little pockets in the back of the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard – one for your index finger and one for your thumb.  After placing your finger and thumb into the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard, you can easily grip onto the vegetable you are cutting.  You can also see in the photo above how the non-slip texture on the inside of the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard helps you to firmly hold any vegetable – even wet veggies that like to move around and do a little dance on your cutting board.

In the photo above, you can see the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard in action.  I am cutting a piece of celery in half to make celery sticks for with a veggie dip.  You can see that my finger and thumb are in the hot pink pockets at the back of the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard, and the white plastic is protecting my fingers from the knife cutting the celery.  Even if the knife were to slip, there is no way it could possibly cut my fingers!  Another added bonus of using the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard is that I found it easier to hold onto my vegetables without them slipping, because the non-slip surface really does give you a much better grip over the food as you slice and dice.  If you have ever cut your fingers while cutting food with a knife (or been to an emergency room for stitches from a kitchen injury … I’m not naming names!), then I am sure you will see the genius in this invention – and at under $8, I do not think any home can afford to be without one!

How to Enter the EvriHolder Safe Slice Knife Guard Giveaway:

Where to Buy the EvriHolder Safe Slice Knife Guard: You can buy one here: Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard

How to Win: You can win a Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard by doing the following:

1.  Visit the Evriholder Website

2.  Leave a comment below with your favorite product on the Evriholder website!

3.  After doing the first two steps, you can get extra entries into the giveaway, by doing as many of the following as you would like!  Good luck everyone!

How to Get Extra Entries (and Boost Your Chances of Winning!):

a)  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

b)  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

c) Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

d)  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

e)  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

f)  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

g)  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

h)  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on December 12 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

After living in New York City for several years (where you are lucky if there is enough space to turn around in your kitchen!), I value kitchen real estate like some people value gold.  Every square inch of drawer and cabinet space is precious!  I could not find space for a colander in my NYC kitchen for the life of me.  So if I needed to drain a pot of pasta, I did the careful dance of balancing the lid at just the right angle so that the boiling water could be poured out but the pasta would stay in.  And if I failed (which I am embarrassed to admit happened a few times) I would lose the pasta or end up with a burn from the hot steam and water.  Oh how I wish I had known about the Rösle Collapsible Colander back then!

I took the above photo with my thumb in it so that you can really get a feel for the scale of the Rösle Collapsible Colander when it is collapsed.  It is about as tall as the width of two of my thumbs, which can literally be squeezed into any little nook or cranny.  Another great thing about this colander is that it comes in so many fabulous colors.  I love the bright red because it is easy to find and very cheerful.  But it is also available in black, green, purple, orange and yellow.

Now for the real test, how easy is it to collapse and expand?  After all, what good is a collapsible colander if it is hard to use!  Well, Rosle knows what it is doing and that is why the Rösle Collapsible Colander was awarded KitchenInnovation of the Year 2009.  This colander is amazingly sturdy and well-built.  It pops in and out with ease, and when it is expanded it is sturdy enough to stay in that position until you collapse it again.

Another important feature to note is that the top, handles and bottom are made out of 18/10 stainless steel, while the red material is silicone.  There are little stainless steel “feet” on the bottom of the colander, which hold it up off of the counter when you put it down.  So after you rinse off your salad, and you put it on the counter, the water can actually continue draining out through the bottom… just make sure to put a towel underneath to catch it.

As if being high quality, a space saver, and the perfect tool for draining pasta and rinsing off fruits and vegetables was not enough… guess what else you can use the Rösle Collapsible Colander for?  A steamer!  That’s right, you just put some water into your favorite big pot,  place the strainer on top of the pot, place your vegetables (or whatever else you might want to steam) into the strainer and heat up the water.  So yes, the Rösle Collapsible Colander is truly a multi-tasking, space-saving, genius of an invention.  Rosle, you have done it again!

How to Enter the Rosle Collapsible Colander Giveaway:

Where to Buy: You can buy one here: Rösle Collapsible Colander

How to Win: You can win a Rösle Collapsible Colander by visiting the Rosle Website and leaving a comment below with the item you like most on their website or a comment about your favorite use for a colander!  Each of the following will give you a certain number of entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails to enter this giveaway. (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Add a link to OpnionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

5.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

The winner will be selected on November 15 and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

Congratulations to Debbie on winning this Giveaway!

I have always been a big fan of the company Emile Henry, because they make top quality clay cooking products imported directly from France!  So when they offered to send me an Emile Henry Pizza Stone to review (plus one to giveaway to a lucky reader), I was ecstatic!  Before the pizza stone even arrived, I was coming up with a million and one ways that I wanted to test it out…. from the obvious (pizza) to the less obvious (bread, phyllo appetizers, cookies, etc.).  I also began reading up about the company history of Emile Henry, which was founded in 1850 in a little town in Burgundy, France.  They are still run by the Henry family and use Burgundy clay in their kitchen products.  What makes Burgundy clay so special?  It is known for evenly cooking food, for having amazing heat retention, and for having outstanding thermal shock properties (which keeps the clay from cracking even if you have it in the freezer and move it directly into the oven).  The more I learned, the more excited I was for the pizza stone!

When my Emile Henry Pizza Stone arrived, I was immediately struck by the weight and obvious high quality.  You cannot tell from a photo, but this box is not a feather-weight.  The pizza stone comes in three gorgeous colors: Figue (an eggplant color), Olive and Black.  I received the black pizza stone, which is perfect for me because it is a neutral color that suits the rest of my kitchen cookware.

Knowing that I would not be able to wait to use my Emile Henry Pizza Stone once I got it, I had my kitchen already stocked with ingredients.  The first test would be a frozen pizza.  I know, I know… homemade pizza tastes much better, but it also takes more time, and I am not joking when I say that I could NOT wait to use it!  My family was previously not a frozen pizza family.  We prefer to have pizza delivered over frozen pizza.  Why?  Well, one big reason is that the crust just never tastes as good.  I like a slightly crunchy crust with a soft inside.  I am proud to say that we are frozen pizza fans now!  Wow, what a difference the Emile Henry Pizza Stone makes.  No more soggy crusts.  Our pizza was perfectly and evenly cooked, even without rotating the pizza once half way through the cooking process.  And I know this can only be credited to the pizza stone, because my oven is notorious for its uneven cooking abilities.

The next test for my Emile Henry Pizza Stone… bread!  Everyone in my family (and in my neighborhood for that matter) knows that I make amazing challah bread.  But like I mentioned before, my oven never cooks anything evenly, so I usually have to rotate my bread a little bit every 15-20 minutes or so.  This time, I baked my bread on the pizza stone and you can see that it browned evenly.  The same day I also baked cookies and chicken nuggets on the pizza stone, both of which came out crunchy and fabulous.  I try to not feed my family fried foods, but often times baked versions of fried foods just do not taste as good.  For example, when you bake chicken nuggets, they often come out soggy, especially if you do not flip each one over half way through.  But chicken nuggets cooked on this pizza stone come out crispy, do not need to be flipped, and are SUCH a healthy and delicious alternative to fried chicken nuggets.  I think my cookie sheet is going to be replaced with my new pizza stone, which seems to do everything that a cookie sheet does, but better!

My final test was on my sister’s favorite recipe of Cheddar Onion Focaccia Bread, which I only made twice because each time the center of the bread came out soggy.  I had a feeling that the Focaccia Bread baked on a Emile Henry Pizza Stone would be a winner.  And sure enough, it came out exactly how I wanted it – with a light brown, crunchy crust.  My pizza stone has been so busy these days that as soon as the focaccia finished, I transferred it onto a cooling rack so that I could use the pizza stone again right away (hence why the photo above shows the focaccia on a cooling rack!).

How to Enter the Emile Henry Pizza Stone Giveaway:

Where to Buy: You can buy one here: Emile Henry Pizza Stone

How to Win: You can win an Emile Henry Pizza Stone by visiting the Emile Henry Website and leaving a comment below with the item you like most on their website or a comment about your favorite use for a pizza stone!  Each of the following will give you a certain number of entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails to enter this giveaway. (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Add a link to OpnionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

5.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

The winner will be selected on November 14 and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

Congratulations to Jen V on winning this Giveaway!